Photographs and Visual Materials (FL)

USF Special Collections maintains a number of archival, manuscript and photographic collections that document Florida’s rich history. These digitized photograph collections represent a selection of these materials, which explore the history of Florida.

SubCollections

This postcard collection of scenes from early twentieth century Florida conveys a sense of what earlier times looked like, or may have looked like, displaying color images of street scenes, natural vistas, and Floridians at work and play.
Hampton Dunn Collection of Florida Postcards

As early as 1949, Robert Graber and his company, Airflite Aerial Photographers, began photographing the growth of Florida's west coast. By the time Graber stopped taking aerial photographs in 1990, the St. Petersburg photographer had accumulated approximately 27,000 aerial shots, many of which are presented here.
The Graber Collection of Aerial Photography consists of more than 8,000 individual photographic negatives spanning 1949-1990. The photographs are dated and indexed according to the records of the original photographer; logbooks provide additional information about many of the aerial shots. Most of the photographs, which were taken by Graber with a K-24 military surveillance camera, document land development and construction on Florida's west coast. The collection was donated by Ken and JoAnne Taylor in 1997. There are 4,781 images online from the years 1956-1959.
Graber Collection of Florida Aerial Photographs

There are three main components of the Charles Ringling Family Collection: the Ringling mansion, the archives from the Ringling Brothers Circus, and biographical materials centered on Charles Ringling family. The digitized images in this collection are a sampling of the larger collection available at the Jane Bancroft Cook Library in Sarasota.
Charles Ringling Family Collection

Images from the International Independent Showmen's Museum Photographic Collection portrays the life and times of the ever-changing American carnival from the late 1800s to the modern day. Featured in the collection are many photographs related to the means of transporting carnival equipment and personnel, i.e. railroads, trucks, semi-trailers, etc. There are carnival rides, game concessions, shows, and show fronts. Many carnivals were family owned and operated, and there are several of those prominent families from the business depicted.
The collection of photos, as well as many artifacts from carnival history, are housed at the International Independent Showmen's Association property, 6915 Riverview Drive, Riverview, Florida until the new museum of the American Carnival building is completed. This historic photography collection has been digitized and made available to the public through the generosity of ...
Showmen's Museum Photograph Collection

Concentrating on the Pinellas Pasco region, professional photographer C. H. Stokes found his subjects along the route of the old Orange Belt Railway. Incorporated in 1893, the Sanford & St Petersburg Railroad took over the older railway's properties, and then became part of the Plant System in 1895 accounting for the photographs being captioned "Views along" either the Sanford & St Petersburg or Plant System of Railways. Both railway companies used the photographs to promote tourism and development, projecting a rustic vision of Florida in the late 1890's.
Stokes Collection of Florida Plant Railway Photographs

This collection documents the growth of St Petersburg from the 1920's to the 1960's. Photographer Francis G. Wagner [9 May 1891-2 Dec 1975], a native of Tontogany, Ohio, came to St. Petersburg in the winter of 1914. He opened St Petersburg's first camera store, the Strand Camera Shop at 9 Second Street in 1916. The Wagners sold the Strand Camera Shop to employee Charlie E. Jones in 1963 and Jones closed the shop around 1980. The space was rented to various businesses over the years. Hired in April 1984 to clean out the storage loft, Earl R. Jacobs, III found and preserved more than one thousand negatives.
Earl R. Jacobs III Collection of Francis G. Wagner's St. Petersburg Photographs

The Yorkunas collection chronicles the weekly – sometimes daily – correspondence between Tampa commercial artist Alvin P. Yorkunas and his wife, Mary Ann. An accomplished artist, Yorkunas often illustrated his letters and envelopes with images drawn from both his personal life and military experiences. These letters give a rare and often humorous insight into the daily life of an early Tampa resident, his drawings from abroad and his memories of home. The collection includes correspondence, personal journals, military documents, postcards, photographs, artwork, printed ephemera, and realia.
Alvin P. Yorkunas Collection